Page 41 of Fallen from the Stars

A series of wet cracks and snaps were her only indication of what he was doing; she cringed at each sound.

Gah, I donothave the stomach for this life.

“Are you unsettled by my appearance?” Vasil asked without looking back at her.

“What?” Theo asked, startled by his blunt question.

“You have recoiled from me several times after I touched you.”

Frowning, Theo chewed on the inside of her cheek. Over the last few days, she’d come to appreciate Vasil’s forwardness; it possessed a sort of innocence that made it endearing rather than annoying. He didn’t skirt around the questions he wanted to ask or waste time trying to gently work toward the answers he sought, he just went right for it.

And in this case, she couldn’t help the shame his question roused in her; there’d been hurt layered deep within his tone.

“I just… I’m not…unattracted to you…” She ran her palm over her face and groaned. Why was it so hard to answer?

Because I don’twantto hurt him.

She cared about his feelings, cared about what he thought. Though she wasn’t ready to commit to theforever relationshiphe wanted, she was interested in him — more interested than she’d admitted to herself. Shewasattracted to him. But she didn’t know how to explain her simultaneous desire and trepidation without potentially hurting his feelings.

“You’re different, Vasil,” she said, looking at his back.

“So are you.” He turned his head slightly but didn’t quite look over his shoulder.

“Yeah, but you’ve had a couple years to get used to humans. I’ve had, what, a week to get used to you?” She absently fidgeted her fingers in her lap.

Unable to stand the anxiousness she was feeling, she moved a little closer to him, grabbed the end of one of his tentacles and drew it over her lap. The muscles beneath its skin contracted, reminding her of a tube being squeezed. She wrapped her hand around the tentacle and held it in place.

He twisted his torso to stare at her with wide, confused eyes. “I do not under—”

“Just shut up and let me, okay?” she said, dropping her gaze to his tentacle. Though he kept it still, it remained tense in her hold.

Tentatively, she ran her hands along it in petting motions, brushing away the bits of sand clinging to his skin. Though his tentacle seemed to have a bit more give than the rest of his body, its skin felt the same — velvet over steel. His suction cups resumed their soft kisses on her legs, sending repeated thrills through her.

Slowly, she slid one of her hands to the underside of his tentacle. The flesh there was different; smoother and softer, it was closer to the feel of human skin. She pressed a fingertip to one of his suction cups and traced its edges. A shudder coursed through the limb.

“Theo,” he rasped.

She didn’t meet his gaze until he covered her hand with his own, halting her fingers. His features were strained — jaw tight, brows low, pupils dilated.

“What?” she asked.

“It is best you stop before I extrude.”

“Ex…trude?” Her eyes dipped to his pelvis, where the slit she’d noticed the day he watched her bathe was once again partially open. It widened more the longer she stared.

Her eyes rounded with sudden realization, and she squeezed the tentacle in her hands. “Ooooh.”

Vasil offered a smile, the expression somehow forced and genuine simultaneously, and gently tugged on his tentacle. She let go of it, but he did not release her hand.

“I appreciate your efforts,” he said, “but I do not think you are ready for things to move that quickly between us.”

“Uh, yeah. I mean, no! I’m not. Not…”

Yet.

“As smooth as polished granite, Theo,” Kane whispered in her mind.

You better have been sleeping during all that, she sent back through the link

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